We all make them in some way or another, either in an organised in December “I am all planning and organised for next year already” kind of way or a beginning of January “I’ve finally got round to thinking about what I want to do differently this year” kind of way. It’s New Year’s Resolutions for your business in 2012. I shared some of mine with you in my last post too.  But then it’s all of a sudden the middle of January and we haven’t managed to stick to our guns for a couple of weeks let alone 12 months! Or is that just me??? I have, however, pulled myself together and got myself back on track, so here are my top tips to help you be likely to succeed in the first place and help sticking to them:

1. Keep your resolutions simple

Complicated makes it hard to achieve and frustrating if you don’t.

2. Keep them small

Grand overal goals are brilliant for motivating you but break your resolutions down into small, more achievable steps. You get to tick them off then when you’ve done them (something I completely LOVE doing, preferably in multi-coloured pens) and you can even allocate them out over the months so it’s only 1 thing to do each month to keep you on track.

3. Go with a theme

I find this helps me loads. Rather than a “I will turnover X amount and the business will be in the top 10 most influential in the Creative Industries in the UK by the end of the year”, it makes it more achievable to say “This year is about growth and getting RRVA recognised nationally”. It gives me something to hang my smaller steps on and to check against when opportunities come in – will it help me achieve my theme??

4. Tell People!

Accountablity is great for making you check back to see what you wanted to achieve. Blog it, share it will a group of like minded people at a networking event and arrange points in the year to get together and see how each of you are doing and support each other to go the next step. Start to work with and hire people who will help you make those changes and hold you to account each month, be it a business coach, a personal trainer or a mentor from within your field.

5. Write it down and stick it up!

Following on from the above, you need to have them somewhere you will see them all the time to remind you what you want out of the year. And also to see how many you’ve managed to cross off your steps already. Hold yourself to account.

This month I’m thinking a lot about resolutions, how to make and keep them effectively and how much better my business will be if I stick to them. These are my suggestions, I’d love to know how you go about making and keeping yours – or maybe you think resolutions are a waste of time! – so please share your thoughts below in the comments.